A retired professor from Aligarh Muslim University has been allegedly duped of over ₹75 lakhs by scammers impersonating officials from Enforcement Directorate (ED), who placed her under a ‘digital arrest’ for 10 days, said a police statement.
On Professor Qamar Jahan’s FIR, the police discovered that the funds had been transferred through 21 bank accounts. Thanks to police intervention, transactions amounting to ₹13 lakh were successfully halted.
Cyber police station inspector VD Panday said the victim was subjected to a “digital arrest” for over ten days, during which the perpetrator coerced Jahan into making payments to evade arrest.
“Digital arrest” is a new form of cyber fraud in which the assailant impersonates officials from CBI, customs, or the ED, and intimidates individuals with threats of arrest through video calls, alleging involvement in fictitious international shipments of prohibited substances or money laundering activities.
In this case, the accused pretended as an official from ED, claiming that she was involved in some dubious transactions, thereby implicating her in a money laundering case.
After transferring over ₹75 lakh, the victim began to suspect that she had been deceived and subsequently lodged a complaint at the police station.
The police have issued warnings to the public, clarifying that there is no legal basis for digital arrests.
